News

Ring in the holiday season with the Amherstburg Freedom Museum! The annual Christmas at the Museum concert is taking place December 12th at 7:00 p.m., in the Nazrey A.M.E Church National Historic Site.

Come and join us for a warm and friendly celebration of the Christmas Season with special musical guest Brynda and Company! The hour and a half program is sprinkled with traditional songs of the season and heart warming carols to start the holiday season off right! A dessert buffet will be served following the concert. Please bring a canned good which will be donated to the Amherstburg Mission.

Please purchase your tickets in advance as seating is limited, by contacting the Museum by phone at 519.736.5433 or online!

With the “8th Annual Ribs and Ragtime” just around the corner and having attended the past seven, I was asked about the historical relevance of this event. I found myself grappling for a cohesive description, but realized the debut of Ribs and Ragtime had been “kept in incubation” for years. In 2001, it was conceived from the historical role of the Detroit River communities of Essex County in the celebration of the founding of Detroit, coined Detroit 300. From this, two companion monuments, along the Detroit River, were erected to symbolize the cooperation of freedom seeking activities between Canada and the US.

In 1964 I returned to Amherstburg – the town of my birth, and was disturbed by the Black awareness that haunted me. There existed so many negative features in the community such as, restricted housing, people without jobs, children poorly educated, poor living standards – and no one seemed to care.

As Emancipation Day approaches, it is worthwhile to reflect on the meaning that Emancipation once held for people in Windsor-Essex County and beyond. When people talk about the heyday of “the Greatest Freedom Show on Earth,” what they often describe is the annual parade, the midway carnival, the Miss Sepia Pageant, talent shows and of course the famous barbeque pit.

In the midst of the Depression, a group of black women, all married, all mothers, met at Ardella Jacobs’ home in Windsor to form the Hour-A-Day Study club. As the name suggests, the women pledged themselves to devote an hour a day to individual reading and analysis, the better to fortify themselves, their children, and their community.